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Cupertino High, Lynbrook High & Monta Vista High — Vote for Liang Chao for Foothill-De Anza Board

Hello Trustee Area 4 Voters,

Foothill-De Anza Community College District Trustee Area 4 includes all of Cupertino, along with portions of west San Jose, southwestern Santa Clara, and northern Saratoga.

High-school attendance areas: all of Cupertino High and Lynbrook High, and most of Monta Vista High.

🏛️ My Approach to Public Service

During my 10 years on the Cupertino Union School District Board and City Council, I've worked to make government accessible, find cost-conscious solutions, test community ideas, and build partnerships—an approach I would bring to Foothill-De Anza.

Here are a few examples from my public-service record that illustrate this approach.

🏛️ Accessible Government

Open meetings: Got the school board to begin recording and livestreaming its meetings, and restored two-way hybrid participation for city commissions, including remote public comments.

Direct engagement: Started monthly coffee chats in 2019 to hear directly from residents, continued them as Mayor, and initiated a community dialogue event with Braver Angels in 2025.

At Foothill-De Anza: I would support recorded board meetings and remote public comments so students and residents can participate without attending in person.

💡 Cost-Conscious Solutions

Library expansion: Helped advance the long-stalled library expansion separately from a much more expensive City Hall project.

Community gardens: Reduced McClellan Community Garden's project budget from $5 million to $3 million through a focused scope and cost-effective implementation, while creating a satellite garden at Wilson Park to expand access in eastern Cupertino.

Inclusive playground: Implemented a more cost-effective approach to the Jollyman Park All-Inclusive Playground.

At Foothill-De Anza: I would bring the same cost-conscious approach to overseeing Measure G bond spending, with an emphasis on transparency, accountability, and value for taxpayers.

🧪 Pilot Ideas, Expand What Works

Dog off-leash pilot: Supported a pilot at Jollyman Park with designated hours and rules to balance park users' needs. Following the pilot, the City continued the program and expanded it to Linda Vista Park.

On-demand shuttle: Supported an on-demand shuttle program to address first- and last-mile transportation challenges. The program later expanded to Santa Clara.

Bird-safe and dark-sky standards: Championed protections for wildlife and measures to reduce unnecessary nighttime lighting.

My environmental advocacy also earned me the endorsement of the Sierra Club, Loma Prieta Chapter.

🤝 Community Partnerships

Over the years, I've built partnerships with many community organizations. Here are just three recent examples:

AAPI Festival: Served as the sole sponsoring Councilmember since 2021, supporting a celebration of cultural diversity organized by community groups.

Cupertino Stories: Initiated the project in partnership with the Cupertino Library Foundation and Cupertino Historical Society to preserve stories of people who shaped our community.

CuperTeens Got Laughs: Initiated a youth-led event in partnership with community groups.

These partnerships reflect my belief that working together with community organizations helps us accomplish more for our community.

🌱 Community Ideas I'd Like to Explore at Foothill-De Anza

Many promising ideas come directly from community members. Three suggestions I'd like to explore are:

• Inclusive Learning at De Anza — Offering extended learning programs for students ages 18–22 with special needs on a college campus, providing a more inclusive learning environment.
• Environmental Leadership — Creating a program modeled after the existing Civic Leadership program, open to students of all ages.
• Bring Back De Anza Day — Working with the college and community partners to revive an event that reconnects residents with De Anza and introduces more people to its programs.

I would work with students, faculty, and community partners to explore these ideas, pilot promising approaches, evaluate results, and expand what works.

📚 More to Explore: Our Community Colleges

In my first email, I shared my personal connection to Foothill-De Anza—as a former professor, a parent whose sons benefited from community college classes, and now a student myself.

I've also written about these topics in my blogs and welcome your feedback through my surveys: